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On the occasion of President John F. Kennedy’s birthday on May 29th, the National Library of Ireland in partnership with the U.S. Embassy and RTÉ Archives will be launching a social media campaign and website which celebrates the 50th Anniversary of his visit to Ireland in June 1963. The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to share their family stories, photos, memories and thoughts on the visit.

The activity will engage the public in support of an exhibit “JFK Homecoming” that the National Library of Ireland will open in June, in partnership with the National Archives of Ireland, RTÉ Archives, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and the U.S. Embassy in Dublin. It will also premier a video tribute that includes contributions from Jim Sheridan, Laura Whitmore, Robert Sheehan, Sharon Corr, Jamie Heaslip, Roddy Doyle, Mark Pollock, Sarah Bolger, Moya Doherty, Michael Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, and Ryan Tubridy. President John F Kennedy visited Ireland from June 26-29, 1963. The anniversary of this visit is being marked with a series of significant events, including a Kennedy “Gathering” at the new visitor centre at the Kennedy Homestead in Dunganstown, Co Wexford, on June 22 and the lighting of a Gathering Flame in New Ross.

With the launch of the website www.jfkhomecoming.com on May 29th everyone is invited to experience again the special days President Kennedy spent in Ireland, to upload their own memories and mementoes of the event, and to create new memories of their own as they hear the words of the U.S. President brought to life again by some of Ireland’s best known voices.